The Smile That Made Life Worth It
by Phoenix T
Summary: "Be faithful in the small things because it's in them that your strength lies." I felt worthless. Small. Defeated. Pain dominated my thoughts but then he came to my mind. I don't know how or why. All I know is that he possibly saved my life that day. He saved my life and he doesn't even know it. He made life worth living and every time I feel defeated, I remember his bright smile.
Phoenix Trails does not own Man of Steel nor does she own any of the characters except for her OC's (a list will be provided at the bottom). Phoenix Trails does own original plot. Please keep in mind as you read that I would love to hear what you think about this story. Please rate and review.

 _ **The pain was unbearable. She screamed her throat raw as the machine ripped into her back; burying into metals extensions into her flesh. The decrepit floor of the crashed alien ship became crimson as her life blood stained the metal. A fire spread through her body; burning white encompassed her vision. The pain grew muted as flashes of other people's lives pulsed before her eyes. Finally the images came to an end and darkness slowly crawled at the corners of her sight. Her eyes closed with what she hoped was finality when the image of man in a red cape came into her mind and stayed with her until she completely surrendered to whatever would come.**_

 _ **A few weeks earlier…**_ __

 _The wind slowly ruffled through the street as she continued to walk towards her condo. The grocery bags in her arms were filled to brim with the ingredients for tonight's dinner with Aaron. The butterflies in her stomach woke up at the thought of her fiancé. A smile graced her lips as she caught sight of her condo between the maple trees that separated her house from her neighbors. The bright crimson and bronze of the trees had inspired Aaron to pick the date of the wedding to be in October, so they could, in his words, "be surrounded by the royal colors of nature." He had been so cute when he said it that she hadn't had the heart to argue with him. He had grabbed the crown from her nephew's costume for his play and had tugged it onto is head, and with his hand on his heart looked dramatically into the distance. Akaara had to resist the urge to laugh at the memory of her sister, Annabelle, capturing the pose on her phone. Aaron hadn't been expecting that and tumbled over when the flash caught him right in the eyes._

 _Akaara stopped her reminiscing as she approached her steps. She climbed them before unlocking the door. As she stepped into her house, she knew something was wrong. Some of Aaron and her things were missing. She walked into her kitchen and set the groceries down on the stone counter top. The house was quiet. When she had left Aaron was still here. Odd. Her heels clicked ominously against the floor while she walked to the bedroom. She poked her head through the doorframe and looks around in confusion. The draws in the dresser were left open, the emptiness staring her in the face. Some of her clothes were piled on the bed but all of Aaron's things were gone. A frown crossed her face when she threw open the closet doors and found it half empty, the spaces for his suitcases included._

 _The happy butterflies vanished at that moment, replaced instead by anxious nerves that made her want to run around the house screaming. Akaara dug into her pocket, reaching for her phone to call Aaron. The sound of the answering machine against her ear did little to sooth them. Sliding her phone back into her pocket she traced her steps back to the kitchen. The flashing red light of her answering machine made her pause for a second. She twirled the ring on her ring finger with those of the opposite hand for few seconds before she walked over and pressed the play button._

 _Hey Akaara, this is Aaron. By now you've probably noticed that I moved all my things out._

 _She slid down to the floor, her hand covering her mouth as tears started streaming down her face leaving trails in her makeup._

 _When we first started dating there was a spark between us and now ..um..i just don't feel it with you anymore._

 _Her silent tears started to become sobs as he went on. All the light in the room dimmed down as clouds covered the sun outside._

 _So I decided it would best if we just ended it now. I didn't want for us to hurt each other more than necessary._

 _The sobs only grew louder as her boyfriend and fiancé of five years proceeded to stomp on her heart. She curled into a fetal position on the floor like it could keep her safe from his harsh words. Salty tears continued to spill down her cheeks in waves from her red-rimmed eyes._

 _Anyway, I moved all my stuff out of the condo and took the car. Danielle offered me a place at her house for a few weeks so you can just mail the ring there. Also I'll be needing you to send your half of the payment for that retreat place since you wanted to go there to for the honeymoon too and they don't give refunds. So yeah bye Akaara._

 _The sobs continued to come from her shaking body; echoing around the still and silent house._

 **The Next Morning**

 _Akaara flinched when the sunlight from outside managed to shine directly into her eyes. She shifted just enough to avoid the sunlight before going still again. Her face held a blank expression as she starred dry eyed at the ceiling. The off-white paint seemed to mock her about the previous day's events. She wanted to scream at it that he was the one that left her, that he was in the wrong. But the words seemed to get caught in her throat, she was choking on them as she tried to scream them but eventually swallowed them because she needed to breathe. Maybe it was right. Had it been her fault? Did she keep him strangled in a loveless relationship that he needed to break from that harshly? Did she make it that hard to love her?_

 _Guilt flooded her as she thought about how horrible her sweet Aaron must have felt during their five years together. She wanted to reach for the phone to call him, but decided against it once she realized she'd have to get off the floor to do so._

 _She stayed there for the next few hours; ignoring the grumbling of her stomach until it literally hurt. She stood for a second before moving over to the fridge. As she went to open the fridge she spotted the groceries she had left on the counter yesterday when she discovered Aaron's stuff missing. Tears started streaming down her face at the memory before she wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt. She stared at them for a moment before grabbing both bags and tossing them into the trashcan. She didn't have the energy to sort through all the stuff that was still good or not; she just didn't care about the groceries. She was numb. She turned and this time went to the cupboards and grabbed a cereal box. She neglected a bowl as she sat on the coach, turned on the t.v. and shoved her hand into the box to retrieve her breakfast._

 _Every day for weeks she did the same thing, got up, cried for a little bit, got hungry, grabbed the cereal and sat in front of the t.v. for most of the day, cried again and went to sleep. She told herself every day that tomorrow she would get out of the house and go to work. Every morning she called in sick to her office and after she called she'd stare at the bottle of anxiety meds that sat on her counter. Sometimes while she was in the shower, when she caught sight of her razor blade, she'd use it to make the pain go away. For a little while at least. That was her life. That is… until one day the t.v. went haywire talking aliens and surrender; until one day Zod attacked Earth not 10 miles from where she lived._

Thanks for reading. Remember rate and review. Also just in case you didn't catch my OC's, they are Akaara, Aaron, and Annabelle. Hmm… I just realized they're all "A" names. Interesting. Anyway hope you have a blessed day. **Phoenix Trails.**


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